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Travel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A statue dedicated to the traveler in OviedoSpain

Travel is the movement of people between relatively distant geographical locations, and can involve travel by footbicycleautomobiletrainboatbusairplane, or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip.[1][2] Travel can also include relatively short stays between successive movements.

Etymology

Tour and TRAVEL SOLUTIONS PANIPAT   The origin of the word “travel” is most likely lost to history. The term “travel” may originate from the Old French word travail, which means ‘work’.[3] According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the first known use of the word travel was in the 14th century. It also states that the word comes from Middle English travailentravelen (which means to torment, labor, strive, journey) and earlier from Old French travailler (which means to work strenuously, toil). In English we still occasionally use the words “travail”, which means struggle. According to Simon Winchester in his book The Best Travelers’ Tales (2004), the words “travel” and “travail” both share an even more ancient root: a Roman instrument of torture called the tripalium (in Latin it means “three stakes”, as in to impale). This link may reflect the extreme difficulty of travel in ancient times. Today, travel may or may not be much easier depending upon the destination you choose (e.g. Mt. Everest, the Amazon rainforest), how you plan to get there (tour buscruise ship, or oxcart), and whether you decide to “rough it” (see extreme tourism and adventure travel). “There’s a big difference between simply being a tourist and being a true world traveler”, notes travel writer Michael Kasum. This is, however, a contested distinction as academic work on the cultures and sociology of travel has noted.[4]

Purpose and motivation

Train travel – Passengers on a train on a bridge of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, between Mettupalayam and Ootacamund, in Tamil NaduIndia

Reasons for traveling include recreation,[5] tourism[5] or vacationing,[5] research travel[5] the gathering of information, visiting people, volunteer travel for charitymigration to begin life somewhere else, religious pilgrimages[5] and mission tripsbusiness travel,[5] trade,[5] commuting, and other reasons, such as to obtain health care[5] or waging or fleeing war or for the enjoyment of traveling. Travellers may use human-powered transport such as walking or bicycling; or vehicles, such as public transportautomobilestrains and airplanes.

Motives for travel include:

Geographic types

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Travel may be local, regional, national (domestic) or international. In some countries, non-local internal travel may require an internal passport, while international travel typically requires a passportand visa. A trip may also be part of a round-trip, which is a particular type of travel whereby a person moves from one location to another and returns.[7]

History of travel

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While early travel tended to be slower, more dangerous, and more dominated by trade and migration, cultural and technological advances over many years have tended to mean that travel has become easier and more accessible.[8] The evolution of technology in such diverse fields as horse tack and bullet trains has contributed to this trend.

While travel in the Middle Ages offered hardships and challenges, it was important to the economy and to society. The wholesale sector depended (for example) on merchants dealing with/through caravan or sea-voyagers, end-user retailing often demanded the services of many itinerant peddlers wandering from village to hamlet, gyrovagues and wandering friars brought theology and pastoral support to neglected areas, travelling minstrels practised the never-ending tour, and armies ranged far and wide[9] in various crusades[10] and in sundry other wars.[11]

Pilgrimages involved streams of travellers both locally (Canterbury Tales-style) and internationally.[12]

Travel by water often provided more comfort and speed than land-travel, at least until the advent of a network of railways in the 19th century. Airships and airplanes took over much of the role of long-distance surface travel in the 20th century.

Travel safety

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Travelers in a British Airways 747 airplaneAir travel is a common means of transport.

MS Skania ferry in the port of Szczecin

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Authorities emphasize the importance of taking precautions to ensure travel safety.[13] When traveling abroad, the odds favor a safe and incident-free trip, however, travelers can be subject to difficulties, crime and violence.[14] Some safety considerations include being aware of one’s surroundings,[13] avoiding being the target of a crime,[13] leaving copies of one’s passport and itinerary information with trusted people,[13] obtaining medical insurance valid in the country being visited[13] and registering with one’s national embassy when arriving in a foreign country.[13] Many countries do not recognize drivers’ licenses from other countries; however most countries accept international driving permits.[15] Automobile insurance policies issued in one’s own country are often invalid in foreign countries, and it is often a requirement to obtain temporary auto insurance valid in the country being visited.[15] It is also advisable to become oriented with the driving-rules and -regulations of destination countries.[15] Wearing a seat belt is highly advisable for safety reasons; many countries have penalties for violating seatbelt laws.[15]

There are three main statistics which may be used to compare the safety of various forms of travel (based on a DETR survey in October 2000):[16]

Mode Deaths per billion
Journeys Hours Kilometers
Bus 4.3 11.1 0.4
Rail 20 30 0.6
Air 117 30.8 0.05
Ship 90 50 2.6
Van 20 60 1.2
Car 40 130 3.1
Walking 40 220 54
Bicycle 170 550 45
Motorcycle 1640 4840 109

See also

 

Tourism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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A tourist taking photographs and video at an archaeological site

Backpacking tourists in Vienna

Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours.[1] Tourism may be international, or within the traveller’s country. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism more generally, in terms which go “beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity only”, as people “traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes”.[2]

Tourism can be domestic or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country’s balance of payments. Today, tourism is a major source of income for many countries, and affects the economy of both the source and host countries, in some cases being of vital importance.[3]

Tourism suffered as a result of a strong economic slowdown of the late-2000s recession, between the second half of 2008 and the end of 2009, and the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus,[4][5] but slowly recovered. International tourism receipts (the travel item in the balance of payments) grew to US$1.03trillion (€740 billion) in 2011, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 3.8% from 2010.[6] International tourist arrivals surpassed the milestone of 1 billion tourists globally for the first time in 2012,[7] emerging markets such as ChinaRussia and Brazil had significantly increased their spending over the previous decade.[8] The ITB Berlin is the world’s leading tourism trade fair.[9]

Etymology[edit]

1922 postcard of tourists in the High TatrasSlovakia.

The word tourist was used in 1772[10] and tourism in 1811.[11] It is formed from the word tour, which is derived from Old English turian, from Old French torner, from Latin tornare; ‘to turn on a lathe,’ which is itself from Ancient Greek tornos; ‘lathe’.[12]

Significance of tourism[edit]

Iguazu Falls in Misiones, Argentina. It is one of the most popular destinations in Latin America.

Strandkorb chairs on Usedom Island, Germany. Not only does the service sector grow thanks to tourism, but also local manufacturers (like those producing the strandkorb), retailers, the real estate sector and the general image of a location can benefit.

The Skull Chapel in south-western Poland is an example of dark tourism. It’s interior walls, ceiling and foundations are adorned by human remains. It is the only such monument in Poland, and one of six in Europe.

Tourism is an important, even vital, source of income for many regions and countries. Its importance was recognized in the Manila Declaration on World Tourism of 1980 as “an activity essential to the life of nations because of its direct effects on the social, cultural, educational, and economic sectors of national societies and on their international relations.”[2][13]

Tourism brings in large amounts of income into a local economy in the form of payment for goods and services needed by tourists, accounting for 30% of the world’s trade of services, and 6% of overall exports of goods and services.[6] It also creates opportunities for employment in the service sector of the economy associated with tourism.[14]

The service industries which benefit from tourism include transportation services, such as airlinescruise ships, and taxicabshospitality services, such as accommodations, including hotels and resorts; and entertainment venues, such as amusement parkscasinosshopping mallsmusic venues, and theaters. This is in addition to goods bought by tourists, including souvenirs.

Definitions[edit]

In 1936, the League of Nations defined a foreign tourist as “someone traveling abroad for at least twenty-four hours”. Its successor, the United Nations, amended this definition in 1945, by including a maximum stay of six months.[15]

In 1941, Hunziker and Kraft defined tourism as “the sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the travel and stay of non-residents, insofar as they do not lead to permanent residence and are not connected with any earning activity.”[16][17] In 1976, the Tourism Society of England’s definition was: “Tourism is the temporary, short-term movement of people to destinations outside the places where they normally live and work and their activities during the stay at each destination. It includes movements for all purposes.”[18] In 1981, the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism defined tourism in terms of particular activities chosen and undertaken outside the home.[19]

In 1994, the United Nations identified three forms of tourism in its Recommendations on Tourism Statistics:[20]

  • Domestic tourism, involving residents of the given country traveling only within this country
  • Inbound tourism, involving non-residents traveling in the given country
  • Outbound tourism, involving residents traveling in another country

The terms tourism and travel are sometimes used interchangeably. In this context, travel has a similar definition to tourism, but implies a more purposeful journey. The terms tourism and tourist are sometimes used pejoratively, to imply a shallow interest in the cultures or locations visited. By contrast, traveler is often used as a sign of distinction. The sociology of tourism has studied the cultural values underpinning these distinctions and their implications for class relations.[21]

World tourism statistics and rankings[edit]

Total volume of cross-border tourist travel[edit]

International tourist arrivals reached 1.035 billion in 2012, up from over 996 million in 2011, and 952 million in 2010.[7] In 2011 and 2012, international travel demand continued to recover from the losses resulting from the late-2000s recession, where tourism suffered a strong slowdown from the second half of 2008 through the end of 2009. After a 5% increase in the first half of 2008, growth in international tourist arrivals moved into negative territory in the second half of 2008, and ended up only 2% for the year, compared to a 7% increase in 2007.[4] The negative trend intensified during 2009, exacerbated in some countries due to the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus, resulting in a worldwide decline of 4.2% in 2009 to 880 million international tourists arrivals, and a 5.7% decline in international tourism receipts.[5]

World’s top tourism destinations[edit]

The World Tourism Organization reports the following ten destinations as the most visited in terms of the number of international travelers in 2016.

Rank Country UNWTO
Region [22]
International
tourist
arrivals
(2016)[23]
1  France Europe 86.2 million
2  United States North America 84.0 million
3  Spain Europe 75.6 million
4  China Asia 59.3 million
5  Italy Europe 52.5 million
6  United Kingdom Europe 35.8 million
7  Germany Europe 35.6 million
8  Mexico North America 35.0 million
9  Thailand Asia 32.6 million
10  Turkey Europe 32.0 million

International tourism receipts[edit]

International tourism receipts grew to US$1.2 trillion in 2014, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 3.7% from 2013.[6][not in citation given] The World Tourism Organization reports the following entities as the top ten tourism earners for the year 2015:

Rank Country/Area UNWTO
Region
[22]
International
tourism
receipts
(2015)[23]
1  United States North America $204.5 billion
2  China Asia $114.1 billion
3  Spain Europe $56.5 billion
4  France Europe $45.9 billion
5  United Kingdom Europe $45.5 billion
6  Thailand Asia $44.6 billion
7  Italy Europe $39.4 billion
8  Germany Europe $36.9 billion
9  Hong Kong Asia $36.2 billion
10  Macau Asia $31.3 billion

International tourism expenditure[edit]

The World Tourism Organization reports the following countries as the ten biggest spenders on international tourism for the year 2015.

Rank Country UNWTO
Region
[22]
International
tourism
expenditure
(2015)[23]
1  China Asia $292.2 billion
2  United States North America $112.9 billion
3  Germany Europe $77.5 billion
4  United Kingdom Europe $63.3 billion
5  France Europe $38.4 billion
6  Russia Europe $34.9 billion
7  Canada North America $29.4 billion
8  South Korea Asia $25.0 billion
9  Italy Europe $24.4 billion
10  Australia Oceania $23.5 billion

MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index[edit]

Based upon air traffic, the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index rates the following as the world’s ten most popular cities for international tourism.

2016[24]
Rank City Country International
tourist arrivals[25]
1 Bangkok  Thailand 21.47 million
2 London  United Kingdom 19.88 million
3 Paris  France 18.03 million
4 Dubai  United Arab Emirates 15.27 million
5 New York City  United States 12.75 million
6 Singapore  Singapore 12.11 million
7 Kuala Lumpur  Malaysia 12.02 million
8 Istanbul  Turkey 11.95 million
9 Tokyo  Japan 11.70 million
10 Seoul  South Korea 10.20 million

MasterCard rates the following cities as the world’s ten biggest earners from international tourism in 2015.[25]

Rank City Country International
tourists spending[25]
1 London  United Kingdom $20.2 billion
2 New York City  United States $17.3 billion
3 Paris  France $16.6 billion
4 Seoul  South Korea $15.2 billion
5 Singapore  Singapore $14.6 billion
6 Barcelona  Spain $13.8 billion
7 Bangkok  Thailand $12.3 billion
8 Kuala Lumpur  Malaysia $12.0 billion
9 Dubai  United Arab Emirates $11.6 billion
10 Istanbul  Turkey $9.3 billion

Euromonitor International Top City Destinations Ranking[edit]

Euromonitor International rated these the world’s cities most visited by international tourists in January 2015:[26][27]

Rank City Country International
tourist arrivals[28]
1 Hong Kong  Hong Kong 25.58 million
2 Singapore  Singapore 22.45 million
3 Bangkok  Thailand 17.46 million
4 London  United Kingdom 16.78 million
5 Paris  France 15.20 million
6 Macau  Macau 14.26 million
7 New York City  United States 11.85 million
8 Shenzhen  China 11.70 million
9 Kuala Lumpur  Malaysia 11.18 million
10 Antalya  Turkey 11.12 million

World Travel and Tourism Council[edit]

Countries Showing Strong International Travel & Tourism Growth between 2010-2016[29]
Rank Country Percentage
1 MyanmarMyanmar 73.5%
2 SudanSudan 49.8%
3 AzerbaijanAzerbaijan 36.4%
4 QatarQatar 34.1%
5 São Tomé and PríncipeSao Tome & Principe 30.1%
6 Sri LankaSri Lanka 26.4%
7 CameroonCameroon 25.5%
8 Georgia (country)Georgia 22.7%
9 IcelandIceland 20.0%
10 KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan 19.5%

World Travel & Tourism Council – Countries that performed best in fastest growing tourism and travel industry in 2016[edit]

Countries Performed Best In 2016[30]
Rank Country Percentage
1 AzerbaijanAzerbaijan 46.1%
2 MongoliaMongolia 24.4%
3 IcelandIceland 20.1%
4 CyprusCyprus 15.4%
5 KazakhstanKazakhstan 15.2%
6 MoldovaMoldova 14.2%
7 Costa RicaCosta Rica 12.1%
8 Georgia (country)Georgia 11.2%
9 Sri LankaSri Lanka 10.7%
10 ThailandThailand 10.7%

History[edit]

A Japanese tourist consulting a tour guide and a guide book from Akizato Ritō’s Miyako meisho zue (1787)

Antiquity[edit]

Travel outside a person’s local area for leisure was largely confined to wealthy classes, who at times travelled to distant parts of the world, to see great buildings and works of art, learn new languages, experience new cultures, and to taste different cuisines. As early as Shulgi, however, kings praised themselves for protecting roads and building waystations for travelers.[31] During the Roman Republicspas and coastal resorts such as Baiae were popular among the rich. Pausanias wrote his Description of Greece in the 2nd century AD. In ancient China, nobles sometimes made a point of visiting Mount Taiand, on occasion, all five Sacred Mountains.

Middle Ages[edit]

By the Middle AgesChristianityBuddhism, and Islam all had traditions of pilgrimage that motivated even the lower classes to undertake distant journeys for health or spiritual improvement, seeing the sights along the way. The Islamic hajj is still central to its faith and Chaucer‘s Canterbury Tales and Wu Cheng’en‘s Journey to the West remain classics of English and Chinese literature.

The 10th- to 13th-century Song dynasty also saw secular travel writers such as Su Shi (11th century) and Fan Chengda (12th century) become popular in China. Under the MingXu Xiake continued the practice.[32] In medieval ItalyFrancesco Petrarch also wrote an allegorical account of his 1336 ascent of Mount Ventoux that praised the act of traveling and criticized frigida incuriositas (“cold lack of curiosity”). The Burgundian poet Michault Taillevent (fr) later composed his own horrified recollections of a 1430 trip through the Jura Mountains.[33]

Grand Tour[edit]

Prince Ladislaus Sigismund of Poland visiting Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest in Brussels in 1624.

Modern tourism can be traced to what was known as the Grand Tour, which was a traditional trip around Europe (especially Germany and Italy), undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means, mainly from Western and Northern European countries. In 1624, young Prince of PolandLadislaus Sigismund Vasa, the eldest son and heir of Sigismund III, embarked for a journey across Europe, as was in custom among Polish nobility.[34] He travelled through territories of today’s Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, where he admired the Siege of Breda by Spanish forces, France, Switzerland to Italy, Austria and Czechia.[34] It was an educational journey[35] and one of the outcomes was introduction of Italian opera in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[36]

The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and generally followed a standard itinerary. It was an educational opportunity and rite of passage. Though primarily associated with the British nobility and wealthy landed gentry, similar trips were made by wealthy young men of Protestant Northern European nations on the Continent, and from the second half of the 18th century some South American, US, and other overseas youth joined in. The tradition was extended to include more of the middle class after rail and steamship travel made the journey easier, and Thomas Cook made the “Cook’s Tour” a byword.

The Grand Tour became a real status symbol for upper class students in the 18th and 19th centuries. In this period, Johann Joachim Winckelmann’s theories about the supremacy of classic culture became very popular and appreciated in the European academic world. Artists, writers and travellers (such as Goethe) affirmed the supremacy of classic art of which Italy, France and Greece provide excellent examples. For these reasons, the Grand Tour’s main destinations were to those centres, where upper-class students could find rare examples of classic art and history.

The New York Times recently described the Grand Tour in this way:

Three hundred years ago, wealthy young Englishmen began taking a post-Oxbridge trek through France and Italy in search of art, culture and the roots of Western civilization. With nearly unlimited funds, aristocratic connections and months (or years) to roam, they commissioned paintings, perfected their language skills and mingled with the upper crust of the Continent.

— Gross, Matt., Lessons From the Frugal Grand Tour.” New York Times 5 September 2008.

The primary value of the Grand Tour, it was believed, laid in the exposure both to the cultural legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and to the aristocratic and fashionably polite society of the European continent.

Emergence of leisure travel[edit]

Englishman in the Campagna by Carl Spitzweg (c. 1845)

Leisure travel was associated with the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom – the first European country to promote leisure time to the increasing industrial population.[37] Initially, this applied to the owners of the machinery of production, the economic oligarchy, factory owners and traders. These comprised the new middle class.[37] Cox & Kings was the first official travel company to be formed in 1758.[38]

The British origin of this new industry is reflected in many place names. In NiceFrance, one of the first and best-established holiday resorts on the French Riviera, the long esplanade along the seafront is known to this day as the Promenade des Anglais; in many other historic resorts in continental Europe, old, well-established palace hotels have names like the Hotel BristolHotel Carlton, or Hotel Majestic – reflecting the dominance of English customers.

Panels from the Thomas Cook Building in Leicester, displaying excursions offered by Thomas Cook

Leicester railway station – built in 1894 to replace, largely on the same site, Campbell Street station, the origin for many of Cook’s early tours.

A pioneer of the travel agency business, Thomas Cook‘s idea to offer excursions came to him while waiting for the stagecoach on the London Road at Kibworth. With the opening of the extended Midland Counties Railway, he arranged to take a group of 540 temperance campaigners from LeicesterCampbell Street station to a rally in Loughborough, eleven miles (18 km) away. On 5 July 1841, Thomas Cook arranged for the rail company to charge one shilling per person; this included rail tickets and food for the journey. Cook was paid a share of the fares charged to the passengers, as the railway tickets, being legal contracts between company and passenger, could not have been issued at his own price.[clarification needed] This was the first privately chartered excursion train to be advertised to the general public; Cook himself acknowledged that there had been previous, unadvertised, private excursion trains.[39] During the following three summers he planned and conducted outings for temperance societies and Sunday school children. In 1844 the Midland Counties Railway Company agreed to make a permanent arrangement with him, provided he found the passengers. This success led him to start his own business running rail excursions for pleasure, taking a percentage of the railway fares.[40]

In 1855, he planned his first excursion abroad, when he took a group from Leicester to Calais to coincide with the Paris Exhibition. The following year he started his “grand circular tours” of Europe.[41] During the 1860s he took parties to Switzerland, Italy, Egypt and the United States. Cook established “inclusive independent travel”, whereby the traveller went independently but his agency charged for travel, food and accommodation for a fixed period over any chosen route. Such was his success that the Scottish railway companies withdrew their support between 1862 and 1863 to try the excursion business for themselves.

Cruise shipping[edit]

Prinzessin Victoria Luise, the first cruise ship of the world, launched in June 1900 in Hamburg (Germany)

Cruising is a popular form of water tourism. Leisure cruise ships were introduced by the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) in 1844,[42] sailing from Southampton to destinations such as GibraltarMalta and Athens.[43] In 1891, German businessman Albert Ballin sailed the ship Augusta Victoria from Hamburg into the Mediterranean Sea. In 1900, one of the first purpose-built cruise ships was Prinzessin Victoria Luise, built in Hamburg.

Modern day tourism[edit]

Many leisure-oriented tourists travel to seaside resorts on their nearest coast or further afield. Coastal areas in the tropics are popular in both summer and winter.

Winter tourism[edit]

St. MoritzSwitzerland became the cradle of the developing winter tourism in the 1860s: hotel manager Johannes Badrutt invited some summer guests from England to return in the winter to see the snowy landscape, thereby inaugurating a popular trend.[44][45] It was, however, only in the 1970s when winter tourism took over the lead from summer tourism in many of the Swiss ski resorts. Even in winter, up to one third of all guests (depending on the location) consist of non-skiers.[46]

Major ski resorts are located mostly in the various European countries (e.g. AndorraAustria], BulgariaBosnia-HerzegovinaCroatiaCzech RepublicCyprusFinlandFranceGermany, Greece, IcelandItalyNorwayLatviaLithuaniaPolandRomaniaSerbiaSwedenSlovakiaSloveniaSpainSwitzerlandTurkey), Canada, the United States (e.g. Montana, Utah, Colorado, California, Wyoming, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York) LebanonNew ZealandJapanSouth KoreaChile, and Argentina.

Mass tourism[edit]

Reisepläne (Travel plans) by Adolph Menzel (1875)

Academics have defined mass tourism as travel by groups on pre-scheduled tours, usually under the organization of tourism professionals.[47] This form of tourism developed during the second half of the 19th century in the United Kingdom and was pioneered by Thomas Cook. Cook took advantage of Europe’s rapidly expanding railway network and established a company that offered affordable day trip excursions to the masses, in addition to longer holidays to Continental Europe, India, Asia and the Western Hemisphere which attracted wealthier customers. By the 1890s over 20,000 tourists per year used Thomas Cook & Son.[48]

The relationship between tourism companies, transportation operators and hotels is a central feature of mass tourism. Cook was able to offer prices that were below the publicly advertised price because his company purchased large numbers of tickets from railroads.[48] One contemporary form of mass tourism, package tourism, still incorporates the partnership between these three groups.

Travel developed during the early 20th century and was facilitated by the development of the automobiles and later by airplanes. Improvements in transport allowed many people to travel quickly to places of leisure interest, so that more people could begin to enjoy the benefits of leisure time.

In Continental Europe, early seaside resorts included: Heiligendamm, founded in 1793 at the Baltic Sea, being the first seaside resort; Ostend, popularised by the people of BrusselsBoulogne-sur-Mer and Deauville for the ParisiansTaormina in Sicily. In the United States, the first seaside resorts in the European style were at Atlantic CityNew Jersey and Long IslandNew York.

By the mid-20th century the Mediterranean Coast became the principal mass tourism destination. The 1960s and 1970s saw mass tourism play a major role in the Spanish economic “miracle”.

Niche tourism[edit]

The Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima, in Portugal, is one of the largest religious tourism sites in the world.

Niche tourism refers to the numerous specialty forms of tourism that have emerged over the years, each with its own adjective. Many of these terms have come into common use by the tourism industry and academics.[49] Others are emerging concepts that may or may not gain popular usage. Examples of the more common niche tourism markets are:

Other terms used for niche or specialty travel forms include the term “destination” in the descriptions, such as destination weddings, and terms such as location vacation.

Recent developments[edit]

destination hotel in GermanyYacht Harbour Residence in RostockMecklenburg.

There has been an up-trend in tourism over the last few decades,[vague] especially in Europe, where international travel for short breaks is common. Tourists have a wide range of budgets and tastes, and a wide variety of resorts and hotels have developed to cater for them. For example, some people prefer simple beach vacations, while others want more specialised holidays, quieter resorts, family-oriented holidays, or niche market-targeted destination hotels.

The developments in technology and transport infrastructure, such as jumbo jetslow-cost airlines, and more accessible airports have made many types of tourism more affordable. The WHO estimated in 2009 that there are around half a million people on board aircraft at any given time.[50] There have also been changes in lifestyle, for example some retirement-age people sustain year round tourism. This is facilitated by internet sales of tourist services. Some sites have now started to offer dynamic packaging, in which an inclusive price is quoted for a tailor-made package requested by the customer upon impulse.

There have been a few setbacks in tourism, such as the September 11 attacks and terrorist threats to tourist destinations, such as in Bali and several European cities. Also, on 26 December 2004, a tsunami, caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, hit the Asian countries on the Indian Ocean, including the Maldives. Thousands of lives were lost including many tourists. This, together with the vast clean-up operations, stopped or severely hampered tourism in the area for a time.[51]

Individual low-price or even zero-price overnight stays have become more popular in the 2000s, especially with a strong growth in the hostel market and services like CouchSurfing and airbnbbeing established.[52] There has also been examples of jurisdictions wherein a significant portion of GDP is being spent on altering the primary sources of revenue towards tourism, as has occurred for instance in Dubai.[53]

Sustainable tourism[edit]

“Sustainable tourism is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems.” (World Tourism Organization)[54]

Sustainable development implies “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987)[55]

Sustainable tourism can be seen as having regard to ecological and social-cultural carrying capacities and includes involving the community of the destination in tourism development planning. It also involves integrating tourism to match current economic and growth policies so as to mitigate some of the negative economic and social impacts of ‘mass tourism‘. Murphy (1985) advocates the use of an ‘ecological approach’, to consider both ‘plants’ and ‘people’ when implementing the sustainable tourism development process. This is in contrast to the ‘boosterism‘ and ‘economic‘ approaches to tourism planning, neither of which consider the detrimental ecological or sociological impacts of tourism development to a destination.

However, Butler questions the exposition of the term ‘sustainable’ in the context of tourism, citing its ambiguity and stating that “the emerging sustainable development philosophy of the 1990s can be viewed as an extension of the broader realization that a preoccupation with economic growth without regard to its social and environmental consequences is self-defeating in the long term.” Thus ‘sustainable tourism development’ is seldom considered as an autonomous function of economic regeneration as separate from general economic growth.

Ecotourism[edit]

Ecotourism, also known as ecological tourism, is responsible travel to fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas that strives to be low-impact and (often) small-scale. It helps educate the traveler; provides funds for conservation; directly benefits the economic development and political empowerment of local communities; and fosters respect for different cultures and for human rights.Take only memories and leave only footprints is a very common slogan in protected areas.[56] Tourist destinations are shifting to low carbon emissions following the trend of visitors more focused in being environmentally responsible adopting a sustainable behavior.[57]

Volunteer Tourism[edit]

Volunteer tourism (or voluntourism) is growing as a largely Western phenomenon, with volunteers travelling to aid those less fortunate than themselves in order to counter global inequalities. Wearing (2001) defines volunteer tourism as applying “to those tourists who, for various reasons, volunteer in an organised way to undertake holidays that might involve aiding or alleviating the material poverty of some groups in society”[58]. VSO was founded in the UK in 1958 and the US Peace Corps was subsequently founded in 1960. These were the first large scale voluntary sending organisations, initially arising to modernise less economically developed countries, which it was hoped would curb the influence of communism[59].

This form of tourism is largely praised for its more sustainable approach to travel, with tourists attempting to assimilate into local cultures, and avoiding the criticisms of consumptive and exploitative mass tourism[60]. However, increasingly voluntourism is being criticised by scholars who suggest it may have negative effects as it begins to undermine local labour, and force unwilling host communities to adopt Western initiatives[61], while host communities without a strong heritage fail to retain volunteers who become dissatisfied with experiences and volunteer shortages persist[62]. Increasingly organisations such as VSO have been concerned with community-centric volunteer programmes where power to control the future of the community is in the hands of local people[63].

Pro-poor tourism[edit]

Pro-poor tourism, which seeks to help the poorest people in developing countries, has been receiving increasing attention by those involved in development; the issue has been addressed through small-scale projects in local communities and through attempts by Ministries of Tourism to attract large numbers of tourists. Research by the Overseas Development Institute suggests that neither is the best way to encourage tourists’ money to reach the poorest as only 25% or less (far less in some cases) ever reaches the poor; successful examples of money reaching the poor include mountain-climbing in Tanzania and cultural tourism in Luang PrabangLaos.[64] There is also the possibilty of pro-poor tourism principles being adopted in centre sites of regeneration in the developed world[65].

Recession tourism[edit]

Recession tourism is a travel trend which evolved by way of the world economic crisis. Recession tourism is defined by low-cost and high-value experiences taking place of once-popular generic retreats. Various recession tourism hotspots have seen business boom during the recession thanks to comparatively low costs of living and a slow world job market suggesting travelers are elongating trips where their money travels further. This concept is not widely used in tourism research. It is related to the short-lived phenomenon that is more widely known as staycation.

Medical tourism[edit]

When there is a significant price difference between countries for a given medical procedure, particularly in Southeast AsiaIndiaEastern EuropeCuba[66] and Canada[67] where there are different regulatory regimes, in relation to particular medical procedures (e.g. dentistry), traveling to take advantage of the price or regulatory differences is often referred to as “medical tourism”.

Educational tourism[edit]

Educational tourism is developed because of the growing popularity of teaching and learning of knowledge and the enhancing of technical competency outside of classroom environment. In educational tourism, the main focus of the tour or leisure activity includes visiting another country to learn about the culture, study tours, or to work and apply skills learned inside the classroom in a different environment, such as in the International Practicum Training Program.

Creative tourism[edit]

Friendship Force visitors from Indonesia meet their hosts in Hartwell, Georgia, USA.

Creative tourism has existed as a form of cultural tourism, since the early beginnings of tourism itself. Its European roots date back to the time of the Grand Tour, which saw the sons of aristocratic families traveling for the purpose of mostly interactive, educational experiences. More recently, creative tourism has been given its own name by Crispin Raymond and Greg Richards,[68] who as members of the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS), have directed a number of projects for the European Commission, including cultural and crafts tourism, known as sustainable tourism. They have defined “creative tourism” as tourism related to the active participation of travellers in the culture of the host community, through interactive workshops and informal learning experiences.[68]

Meanwhile, the concept of creative tourism has been picked up by high-profile organizations such as UNESCO, who through the Creative Cities Network, have endorsed creative tourism as an engaged, authentic experience that promotes an active understanding of the specific cultural features of a place.[citation needed]

Greg Richards – Conferencia Turismo Creativo

More recently, creative tourism has gained popularity as a form of cultural tourism, drawing on active participation by travelers in the culture of the host communities they visit. Several countries offer examples of this type of tourism development, including the United Kingdom, Austria, France, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Spain, Italy and New Zealand.[citation needed]

The growing interest of tourists[69] in this new way to discover a culture regards particularly the operators and branding managers, attentive to the possibility of attracting a quality tourism, highlighting the intangible heritage (craft workshops, cooking classes, etc.) and optimizing the use of existing infrastructure (for example, through the rent of halls and auditorium).

Experiential tourism

Experiential travel (or “immersion travel”) is one of the major market trends in the modern tourism industry. It is an approach to travelling which focuses on experiencing a country, city or particular place by connecting to its history, people, food and culture.[70]

The term “Experiential travel” is already mentioned in publications from 1985[71] – however it was discovered as a meaningful market trend much later.

Dark tourism

One emerging area of special interest has been identified by Lennon and Foley (2000)[72][73] as “dark” tourism. This type of tourism involves visits to “dark” sites, such as battlegrounds, scenes of horrific crimes or acts of genocide, for example concentration camps. Dark tourism remains a small niche market, driven by varied motivations, such as mourning, remembrance, education, macabre curiosity or even entertainment.[citation needed] Its origins are rooted in fairgrounds and medieval fairs.[74]

Philip Stone argues that dark tourism is a way of imagining one’s own death through the real death of others.[75] Erik H Cohen introduces the term “populo sites” to evidence the educational character of dark tourism. Populo sites transmit the story of vicitimized people to visitors. Based on a study at Yad Vashem, the Shoah (Holocaust) memorial museum in Jerusalem, a new term—in populo—is proposed to describe dark tourism sites at a spiritual and population center of the people to whom a tragedy befell. Learning about the Shoah in Jerusalem offers an encounter with the subject which is different from visits to sites in Europe, but equally authentic. It is argued that a dichotomy between “authentic” sites at the location of a tragedy and “created” sites elsewhere is insufficient. Participants’ evaluations of seminars for European teachers at Yad Vashem indicate that the location is an important aspect of a meaningful encounter with the subject. Implications for other cases of dark tourism at in populo locations are discussed.[76] In this vein, Peter Tarlow defines dark tourism as the tendency to visit the scenes of tragedies or historically noteworthy deaths, which continue to impact our lives. This issue cannot be understood without the figure of trauma.[77] Following this, Maximiliano Korstanje explains that tourism serves as an scapegoat mechanism used in order for society does not collapse.[clarification needed] This is the reason why tourists look for something special, something new beyond their nearest residential home.[clarification needed] The quest for “Otherness” leads not only to maximize pleasure but also provides a pedagogical message to the us.[clarification needed] In the context of disasters and tragedies, dark tourism may revitalize the lost trust giving a positive value that helps community in the process of recovery. Tourism is in fact an instrument of resiliency that paves the ways for the society to be united[clarification needed].[78][79][80]

Social tourism[edit]

Social tourism is making tourism available to poor people who otherwise could not afford to travel for their education or recreation. It includes youth hostels and low-priced holiday accommodation run by church and voluntary organisationstrade unions, or in Communist times publicly owned enterprises. In May 1959, at the second Congress of Social Tourism in Austria, Walter Hunzikerproposed the following definition: “Social tourism is a type of tourism practiced by low income groups, and which is rendered possible and facilitated by entirely separate and therefore easily recognizable services”.[citation needed]

Doom tourism[edit]

Also known as “Tourism of Doom,” or “Last Chance Tourism” this emerging trend involves traveling to places that are environmentally or otherwise threatened (such as the ice caps of Mount Kilimanjaro, the melting glaciers of Patagonia, or the coral of the Great Barrier Reef) before it is too late. Identified by travel trade magazine Travel Age West[81] editor-in-chief Kenneth Shapiro in 2007 and later explored in The New York Times,[82] this type of tourism is believed to be on the rise. Some see the trend as related to sustainable tourism or ecotourism due to the fact that a number of these tourist destinations are considered threatened by environmental factors such as global warming, overpopulation or climate change. Others worry that travel to many of these threatened locations increases an individual’s carbon footprint and only hastens problems threatened locations are already facing.[83][84][85][86][87][88]

Religious Tourism[edit]

Religious tourism, in particular religious travel, is used to strengthen faith and show devotion both of which are central tenets of many major religions[89]. Religious tourists seek destinations whose image encourages them to believe that they can strengthen the religious elements of their self-identity in a positive manner. Given this, the perceived image of a destination may be positively influenced by whether it conforms to the requirements of their religious self-identity or not[90].

Growth[edit]

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) forecasts that international tourism will continue growing at the average annual rate of 4%.[91] With the advent of e-commerce, tourism products have become one of the most traded items on the internet.[citation needed] Tourism products and services have been made available through intermediaries, although tourism providers (hotels, airlines, etc.), including small-scale operators, can sell their services directly.[92][93] This has put pressure on intermediaries from both on-line and traditional shops.

It has been suggested there is a strong correlation between tourism expenditure per capita and the degree to which countries play in the global context.[94] Not only as a result of the important economic contribution of the tourism industry, but also as an indicator of the degree of confidence with which global citizens leverage the resources of the globe for the benefit of their local economies. This is why any projections of growth in tourism may serve as an indication of the relative influence that each country will exercise in the future.

SpaceShipTwo is a major project in space tourism.

Space tourism[edit]

There has been a limited amount of orbital space tourism, with only the Russian Space Agency providing transport to date. A 2010 report into space tourism anticipated that it could become a billion dollar market by 2030.[95]

Sports tourism[edit]

Since the late 1980s, sports tourism has become increasingly popular. Events such as rugby, Olympics, Commonwealth games, Asian Games and football World Cups have enabled specialist travel companies to gain official ticket allocation and then sell them in packages that include flights, hotels and excursions.

The focus on sport and spreading knowledge on the subject, especially more so recently, led to the increase in the sport tourism. Most notably, the international event such as the Olympics caused a shift in focus in the audience who now realize the variety of sports that exist in the world. In the United States, one of the most popular sports that usually are focused on was Football. This popularity was increased through major events like the World Cups. In Asian countries, the numerous football events also increased the popularity of football. But, it was the Olympics that brought together the different sports that led to the increase in sport tourism. The drastic interest increase in sports in general and not just one sport caught the attention of travel companies, who then began to sell flights in packages. Due to the low number of people who actually purchase these packages than predicted, the cost of these packages plummeted initially. As the number start to rise slightly the packages increased to regain the lost profits. With the certain economic state, the number of purchases decreased once again. The fluctuation in the number of packages sold was solely dependent on the economic situation, therefore, most travel companies were forced to set aside the plan to execute the marketing of any new package features.

Latest trends[edit]

As a result of the late-2000s recession, international arrivals suffered a strong slowdown beginning in June 2008. Growth from 2007 to 2008 was only 3.7% during the first eight months of 2008. This slowdown on international tourism demand was also reflected in the air transport industry, with a negative growth in September 2008 and a 3.3% growth in passenger traffic through September. The hotel industry also reported a slowdown, with room occupancy declining. In 2009 worldwide tourism arrivals decreased by 3.8%.[96] By the first quarter of 2009, real travel demand in the United States had fallen 6% over six quarters. While this is considerably milder than what occurred after the 9/11 attacks, the decline was at twice the rate as real GDP has fallen.[97][98]

However, evidence suggests that tourism as a global phenomenon shows no signs of substantially abating in the long term. It has been suggested that travel is necessary in order to maintain relationships, as social life is increasingly networked and conducted at a distance.[99] For many people vacations and travel are increasingly being viewed as a necessity rather than a luxury, and this is reflected in tourist numbers recovering some 6.6% globally over 2009, with growth up to 8% in emerging economies.[96]

See also[edit]

Travel agency

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism related services to the public on behalf of suppliers such as activitiesairlinescar rentalscruise lineshotelsrailwaystravel insurance, and package tours. In addition to dealing with ordinary tourists most travel agencies have a separate department devoted to making travel arrangements for business travelers and some travel agencies specialize in commercial and business travel only. There are also travel agencies that serve as general sales agents for foreign travel companies, allowing them to have offices in countries other than where their headquarters are located.

Origins[edit]

Thomas Cook travel agents in the UK

The modern travel agency first appeared in the second half of the 19th century with its root in 1758 as establishment of Cox & Kings Ltd.[1] In the year 1970, Cox & Kings the longest established travel company[2] centered its focus on its business of travel and tourism. Lately Thomas Cook also established a chain of agencies in the last quarter of the 19th century, in association with the Midland Railway. They not only sold their own tours to the public, but in addition, represented other tour companies. Other British pioneer travel agencies were Dean & Dawson,[3] the Polytechnic Touring Association, and the Co-operative Wholesale Society. The oldest travel agency in the United States is Brownell Travel; on 4 July 1887, Walter T. Brownell led ten travelers on a European tour, setting sail from New York on the SS Devonia.[4]

Travel agencies became more commonplace with the development of commercial aviation, starting in the 1920s. Originally, travel agencies largely catered to middle and upper class customers, but the post-war boom in mass-market package holidays resulted in the proliferation of travel agencies on the main streets of most British towns, catering to a working class clientele looking for a convenient way to book overseas beach holidays.[5]

Operations[edit]

A travel agency’s main function is to act as an agent, selling travel products and services on behalf of a supplier. Consequently, unlike other retail businesses, they do not keep a stock in hand, unless they have pre-booked hotel rooms and/or cabins on a cruise ship for a group travel event such as a wedding, honeymoon, or a group event. A package holiday or a ticket is not purchased from a supplier unless a customer requests that purchase. The holiday or ticket is supplied to the agency at a discount. The profit is therefore the difference between the advertised price which the customer pays and the discounted price at which it is supplied to the agent. This is known as the commission. In many countries, all individuals or companies that sell tickets are required to be licensed as a travel agent.[citation needed]

In some countries, airlines have stopped giving commissions to travel agencies. Therefore, travel agencies are now forced to charge a percentage premium or a standard flat fee, per sale. However, some companies pay travel agencies a set percentage for selling their product. Major tour companies can afford to do this, because if they were to sell a thousand trips at a cheaper rate, they would still come out better than if they sold a hundred trips at a higher rate. This process benefits both parties.[6] It is also cheaper to offer commissions to travel agents rather than engage in advertising and distribution campaigns without using agents.[7]

Other commercial operations are undertaken, especially by the larger chains. These can include the sale of in-house insurancetravel guide books, and public transport timetablescar rentals, and the services of an on-site bureau de change, dealing in the most popular holiday currencies.[8]

Travel agents in Rio de JaneiroBrazil

A travel agent is supposed to offer impartial travel advice to the customer, as well as coordinating travel details and assisting the customer in booking travel. However, this function almost disappeared with the mass market package holiday, and some agency chains seemed to develop a “holiday supermarket” concept, in which customers choose their holiday from brochures on racks and then book it from a counter. Again, a variety of social and economic changes[which?] have now contrived to bring this aspect to the fore once more, particularly with the advent of multiple, no-frillslow-cost airlines.[which?][when?][citation needed]

Agency income[edit]

Traditionally, travel agencies’ principal source of income was, and continues to be, commissions paid for bookings of car rentalscruise lineshotelsrailwayssightseeing tourstour operators, etc. A fixed percentage of the main element of the price is paid to the agent as a commission. Commissions may vary depending on the type of product and the supplier. Commissions are not paid on the tax component of the price. Travel agencies also receive a large variety of bonuses, benefits, and other incentives from travel and tourism related companies as inducements for travel agents to promote their products. The customer is normally not made aware of how much the travel agent is earning in commissions and other benefits. Other sources of income may include the sale of insurancetravel guide bookspublic transport timetables and money exchange.[9]

Since 1995, many airlines around the world and most airlines in the United States now do not pay any commission to travel agencies. In this case, an agency adds a service fee to the net price. Reduced commissions started in 1995 in the United States, with the introduction of a cap of $50 on return trips and $25 on one way.[10] In 1999, European airlines began eliminating or reducing commissions, while Singapore Airlines did so in parts of Asia.[10] In 2002, Delta Air Lines announced a zero-commission base for the U.S. and Canada; after a few months United AirlinesAmerican AirlinesContinental AirlinesNorthwest AirlinesUS Airways and American Trans Air all followed suit.[10]

Insurance[edit]

The majority of travel agents have felt the need to protect themselves and their clients against the possibilities of commercial failure, either their own or a supplier’s. They will advertise the fact that they are surety bonded, meaning in the case of a failure, the customers are guaranteed either an equivalent holiday to that which they have lost or, if they prefer, a refund. Many British and American agencies and tour operators are bonded with the International Air Transport Association (IATA),[11] for those who issue air tickets, Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (ATOL) for those who order tickets in, and the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) or the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), for those who sell package holidays on behalf of a tour company.[12]

Types of agencies[edit]

Allamanda Voyages travel agents in Paris

There are three different types of agencies in the UK: multiples, miniples,[13] and independent agencies. Multiples comprises a number of national chains, often owned by international conglomerates, like Thomson Holidays, now a subsidiary of TUI Group, the German multinational.[14] It is now common for the large mass market tour companies to purchase a controlling interest in a chain of travel agencies, in order to control the distribution of their product. (This is an example of vertical integration.) The smaller chains are often based in particular regions or districts.[citation needed]

Five different types of agencies exist in the United States: independent, host, franchise, consortium, and mega agencies. American Express and the American Automobile Association (AAA) are examples of mega travel agencies.[15] Carlson Wagonlit Travel is an example of a consortium agency consisting of various types of specialty agencies. Expedia CruiseShipCenters is an example of a franchise travel agency, consisting of independently operated travel agencies ran by franchisees. Oasis Agent is an example of a host agency. An example of an independent travel agency, is one that is started by a sole proprietorship, or partnership between individuals that have no business partnerships with competition agencies. Each type of travel agency has its pros and cons.[16][17]

Independent agencies usually cater to a special or niche market, such as the needs of residents in an upmarket commuter town or suburb, or a particular group interested in a similar activity, such as sporting events, like football, golf, or tennis.[18]

Travel agencies choose between two approaches. One is the traditional, multi-destination, outbound travel agency, based in the traveler’s originating location; the other is the destination focused, inbound travel agency, that is based in the destination and delivers an expertise on that location. At present, the former is usually a larger operator while the latter is often a smaller, independent operator.[19]

Consolidators[edit]

Airline consolidatorstour operators, and other types of travel consolidators and wholesalers are high volume sales companies that specialize in selling to niche markets.[20] They may or may not offer various types of services, at a single point of access. These can be hotel reservations, flights or car-rentals. Sometimes the services are combined into vacation packages, that include transfers to the location and lodging. These companies do not usually sell directly to the public, but act as wholesalers to retail travel agencies. Commonly, the sole purpose of consolidators is to sell to ethnic niches in the travel industry. Usually no consolidator offers everything; they may only have contracted rates to specific destinations. Today, there are no domestic consolidators, with some exceptions for business class contracts.[citation needed]

Travel agencies in the 21st century[edit]

Travel agents in Taiwan

With general public access to the Internet since the mid-1990s, many airlines and other travel companies began to sell directly to passengers. As a consequence, airlines no longer needed to pay the commissions to travel agents on each ticket sold. Since 1997, travel agencies have gradually been dis-intermediated, by the reduction in costs caused by removing layers from the package holiday distribution network.[21][22] However, travel agents remain dominant in some areas such as cruise vacations where they represent 77% of bookings and 73% of packaged travel.[23]

In response, travel agencies have developed an internet presence of their own by creating travel websites, with detailed information and online booking capabilities. Travel agencies also use the services of the major computer reservations systems companies, also known as Global Distribution Systems(GDS), including: Amadeus CRSGalileo CRSSABRE, and Worldspan, which is a subsidiary of Travelport, allowing them to book and sell airline ticketscar rentalshotels, and other travel related services. Some online travel websites allow visitors to compare hotel and flight rates with multiple companies for free; they often allow visitors to sort the travel packages by amenities, price, and proximity to a city or landmark.[24]

All travel sites that sell hotels online work together with GDS, suppliers, and hotels directly to search for room inventory. Once the travel site sells a hotel, the site will try to get a confirmation for this hotel. Once confirmed or not, the customer is contacted with the result. This means that booking a hotel on a travel website will not necessarily result in an instant confirmation. Only some hotels on a travel website can be confirmed instantly (which is normally marked as such on each site).[citation needed] As different travel websites work with different suppliers, each site has different hotels that it can confirm instantly.[citation needed] Some examples of such online travel websites that sell hotel rooms are ExpediaOrbitzReservations.comand Priceline.

The comparison sites, such as Kayak.com and TripAdvisor, search the resellers sites all at once to save time searching. None of these sites actually sells hotel rooms.[25]

Often tour operators have hotel contracts,[clarification needed] allotments,[clarification needed] and free sell agreements[clarification needed] which allow for the immediate confirmation of hotel rooms for vacation bookings.[citation needed]

Mainline service providers are those that actually produce the direct service, like various hotels chains or airlines that have a website for online bookings.[original research?]

Portals serve as a consolidator of various airlines and hotels on the internet. They work on a commission from these hotels and airlines. Often, they provide cheaper rates than the mainline service providers, as these sites get bulk deals from the service providers.[original research?]

A meta search engine, on the other hand, simply scrapes data from the internet on real time rates for various search queries and diverts traffic to the mainline service providers for an online booking. These websites usually do not have their own booking engine.[citation needed]

Careers[edit]

A travel agent may work for a travel agency or work freelance.[26]

With many people switching to self-service internet websites, the number of available jobs as travel agents is decreasing.[26]

Since 1995, many travel agents have exited the industry, and relatively few young people have entered the field due to less competitive salaries.[27] However, others have abandoned the “brick and mortar” agency for a home-based business to reduce overhead, and those who remain have managed to survive by promoting other travel products, such as cruise lines and train excursions, or by promoting their ability to aggressively research and assemble complex travel packages on a moment’s notice, essentially acting as an advanced concierge. In this regard, travel agents can remain competitive, if they become “travel consultants” with flawless knowledge of destination regions and specialize in topics like nautical tourism or cultural tourism.[28]

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